Short-seller James Chanos says Strategy's stock and its Bitcoin holdings show an $80B actionable spread, calling it one of the biggest pure arbitrage setups he has seen. Strategy holds about 847,363 BTC, worth roughly $54 billion at current prices, while MSTR carries added exposure to the firm's debt and financing costs.
Chanos flags an $80 billion gap
Chanos believes that business intelligence firm Strategy presents one of the greatest pure arbitrage opportunities he has ever seen. According to Chanos: "$80B actionable spread" exists between Strategy and the Bitcoin it holds.
Strategy owns an enormous amount of Bitcoin, but the stock market can value the company at substantially less than the market value of those holdings. Strategy currently holds about 847,363 BTC, and with Bitcoin around $64,000 on August 18, those holdings are worth approximately $54 billion.
That said, MSTR and Bitcoin are not economically identical. Owning MSTR gives investors exposure to Bitcoin, but also exposure to Strategy's debt, preferred securities, financing costs, software business, and management decisions.
Chanos's bet against Saylor
Chanos previously argued that MSTR was trading at an enormous premium to its Bitcoin holdings, and in 2025 he described his trade as selling MSTR while buying Bitcoin. Chanos & Co. began building that short selling position in late 2024, with reporting placing the initial short around October-November 2024.
By November 2024, MSTR's multiple to the value of its Bitcoin holdings had risen above 3x at points. From late 2024 into 2025, however, MSTR's premium over its underlying Bitcoin exposure contracted dramatically, and by November 2025 the mNAV had fallen to roughly 1.23x.
Chanos exited the trade in November 2025, unwinding the MSTR/Bitcoin hedge on Nov. 7. His track record includes shorting Enron, which he began investigating in 2000, and Luckin Coffee in 2020, after which Luckin disclosed that roughly $310 million in 2019 sales had been fabricated.
Source: U.Today
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
